By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel — The International Red Cross issued a warning last Friday that three Palestinian hunger strikers were at risk of death in an Israeli jail.  The three men, Samer Al-Barq, Hassan Safadi, and  Ayman Sharawna, began their hunger strikes on May 22, June 21 and July 5, respectively, to demand better conditions of Israeli prisons, and an end to arbitrary administrative detention and long-term isolation.

“These people are going to die unless the detaining authorities find a prompt solution,” the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Israel and the occupied territories, Juan Pedro Schaerer, said in a statement.

Al-Barq originally began his hunger strike on April 15, when he took part in a mass hunger strike with approximately 2,000 other Palestinian prisoners to protest prison conditions.  He ended his hunger strike on May 14, and resumed it again on May 21 after Israel issued new administrative detention orders.  Al-Barq has been on a hunger strike for 120 days, and due to his current condition he is unable to walk.  He was moved from his prison cell to a civilian hospital last Sunday, but details on his current condition are not available.

Like Al-Barq, both Safadi and Sharawna have suffered physical ailments because of their hunger strikes.

Safadi has been on a hunger strike for 86 days.  Fares Ziad, a lawyer for a prisoner rights group called Addameer, says that Safadi  has been suffering from heart contractions and chronic pain in his kidneys and joints.  Ziad says that Israel has detained Safadi multiple times since the 1990’s without ever raising charges against him.

Sharawna, whose hunger strike has lasted 76 days, was released from prison in 2011 when Israel swapped prisoners with Hamas, yet he was arrested once again by Israeli forces last January without ever being charged.  He has lost 86 percent of the vision in his right eye and was vomiting blood as of last week.

Meanwhile, Zakaria Zubeidi, who was arrested by the Palestinian Authority on May 13, has refused food in protest of his detention without charges or trial.  He told his lawyer that Palestinian authorities had tortured him and denied him access to both a lawyer and his family for an extended period.  Palestinian interrogators claim that Zubeidi knew the location of guns that were used by Palestinian armed groups when they fired shots into the home of the governor of Jenin, in the northern West Bank.

Zubeidi began his hunger strike on September 9, when a judge extended his detention for eight days.  He began accepting fluids after September 11 when he started suffering from kidney problems related to the strike.  Zubeidi said he would resume a total hunger strike until death after the court extended his detention to give the prosecution additional time to build their case.

For further information, please see:

Al Resalah — Fears for Palestinian Hunger Strikers’ Lives — 19 September 2012

Al Jazeera — Palestinian Hunger Strikers ‘Close to Death’ — 18 September 2012

Human Rights Watch — Israel/Palestinian Authority: Charge or Free Palestinian Detainees — 18 September 2012

Ma’an News Agency — Red Cross Warns Hunger Strikers Risk Death — 14 September 2012

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Another day has passed, and chaos ensues in the Middle East as demonstrators continue to violently protest America. These protests are in reaction to an anti-Mohammed film, The Innocence of Muslims, made by one fairly unknown American filmmaker.

Demonstrations have taken place all over the Middle East and Northern Africa. So far protesters have congregated in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egpyt, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Pakistan, Kashmir, Bangladesh, and Jakarta.

Many of these demonstrations have been violent and have involved the storming of U.S. embassies in these countries. There have been casualties on both sides of this conflict. On Tuesday in Libya four Americans were killed at the U.S. Embassy including Ambassador Stevens. In many of these countries, to keep protesters from rioting the embassies, police have used tear gas, guns, and water cannons when necessary. On Friday, three protesters were reported dead outside of Tunis, another was killed in Tripoli, and another in Khartoum. Many others have been injured.

Just outside the embassy in Tunis, protesters chanted, “Obama, Obama, we are all Osamas.”

While nearly all of the Middle East is protesting this anti-Mohammed film, not every country has turned to violence. Religious leaders in Afghanistan have urged their people to protest, but peacefully. As they assembled in Jalalabad they burned an effigy of Obama and a U.S. flag but have made no attempts to riot on any embassy. Two U.S. marines were killed at Camp Bastion in south Helmand but that involved a complex Taliban attack unrelated to demonstrations against the film.

For further information, please see:

Guardian – Middle East Live – 14 September 2012

Reuters – Middle East and North Africa Live – 14 September 2012

Impunity Watch – YouTube Video Fuels Islamic Unrest Across the Middle East – 13 September 2012

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya – Very little is known about the film, The Innocence of Muslims, or its maker, Sam Bacile. One thing we do know is that the anti-Muhammad film has led to Muslim protests and violence directed at American embassies in Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen.

The film was supposedly shown at one largely vacant theatre before a thirteen-minute clip found itself posted on YouTube for the world to see. For most Muslims, any depiction of Mohammed is met with scorn, but The Innocence of Muslims’ depiction of Mohammaed as a religious fraud, womanizer, child molester, and ruthless killer has particularly incensed Muslims.  The actors involved in making the video claim to have been “grossly misled” about the purpose of the film. The crew believed they were making an Arabian Desert adventure film titled “Desert Warrior.” They maintain that all of their lines were dubbed over in post-production with the anti-Mohammed content.

Bacile has since gone into hiding following the fury he evoked in the Arab world. No one in the Hollywood film community has ever heard of him or his film, which casts serious aspersions as to whether The Innocence of Muslims is actually a full-length movie or just a thirteen-minute clip. After partaking in a single interview, the Associated Press described Bacile as “a California real estate developer who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew.” Neither the California Association of Realtors nor the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles claim to have ever heard of Sam Bacile. The Israeli consulate claims that he is part of the Egyptian Coptic diaspora, but a cleric with the Coptic Orthodox Church diocese of Los Angeles denies having ever heard of him. Regardless, Bacile is connected to Morris Sadik, an Egyptian Coptic Christian in California who played the clip for his group, the National American Coptic Assembly.

Public reaction against the film in the Middle East began on Tuesday and continue to spark demonstrations at the U.S. embassies in Yemen, Egypt, and Iraq.  In Yemen, hundreds of angered Muslims have congregated at the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a, burning U.S. Flags and chanting “death to America” as they attempted to storm the building.

“We want to close the American embassy for this insult on prophet Mohammed,” said Abdullah Rahman Safi, echoing the protesters’ sentiments.

Yemeni troops eventually suppressed the uprising by firing tear gas and live ammunition into the air. Both Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Yemeni Embassy in Washington have apologized to America for the attacks and have sworn to investigate the attacks on the embassy and keep U.S. foreign diplomats safe.

Similar demonstrations, involving the throwing of rocks, are taking place near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. The initial protests occurred at the embassy, but police have since been able to keep protesters away from the building through the use of tear gas. So far, sixteen protesters and thirteen policemen have been wounded in the clashes. Additionally, twelve dissidents have been arrested. Egypt’s first Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, has pledged to not allow attacks on foreign embassies, but expressed some conflict with suppressing his people’s freedom of expression.

Hundreds of Shi’ites in Iraq also congregated outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad calling for the termination of the embassy in response to the film. They too burned American flags and chanted “No, no, to Israel! No, no to America! Yes, yes for Messenger of God.”

The most violent protest took place at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday night. There, demonstrating protesters were accompanied by heavily armed militants who shot gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades at the U.S. Consulate for four straight hours. Shortly after the firing began, the gunmen gained access to the building and were able to set it on fire. Many were injured and at least four people were killed, including Christopher Stephens, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya. He initially started working as an English teacher in Morocco, where he said he quickly realized that he “grew to love this part of the world.”

Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, said that, “However offensive this film may be it can in no way excuse such killings and violent attacks.”

While many of the Muslim protesters are upset about the movie, not everyone is convinced that the true motivation of the violence is the response to the film.  U.S. officials are currently investigating the question of whether the killings in Libya were planned to coincide with the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Al-Qaeda’s most active branch is located in Yemen. Prior to Tuesday night’s attacks on the U.S. Embassy, the country’s government announced that al-Qaeda’s “number two man” had been killed in a U.S. airstrike.

For further information, please see:

Huffington Post — U.S. Embassy Attacks: “Death to America” Chants and Flag-Burning Protests Spread to Iran, Iraq — 13 September 2012

USA Today – Protesters Storm U.S. Embassy in Yemen – 13 September 2012

Amnesty International – Libya: No Excuse for Attack on US Consulate – 12 September 2012

Guardian – Mystery Surrounds ‘Sam Bacile’, Maker of Controversial Anti-Muhammad Film – 12 September 2012

CNN – Six Things to Know About Attack That Killed Ambassador Stevens – 12 September 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — More than 3,000 protestors belonging to the ‘Nahj’ movement gathered in Kuwait’s Irada Square opposite the National Assembly last Monday, demanding that reforms be made to the country’s electoral law.  They also called for the formation of a constitutional monarchy and the election of a prime minister from outside the ruling al-Sabah family.

Protesters have criticized the government, saying they have ignored Article 6 of the Constitution, which states that “[t]he System of Government in Kuwait shall be democratic, under which sovereignty resides in the people, the sources of all powers.  Sovereignty shall be exercised in the manner specified in this Constitution.”

Despite a ban on sleeping in the square and sitting in, protesters came to Irada Square with sleeping bags, as they were prepared to defy both prohibitions and stage a sit in for multiple days.  Many MP’s addressed the protestors over the past two days, encouraging them to not give up on their demands.  MP Musallam Al-Barrack said prior to the rally “we will not obey them and will not keep quiet and let them do whatever they want.”  In a message to the protestors, Islamist MP Walid Al-Tabtabaie took to the podium and said that the al-Sabah family can “be the emirs but the ministers will be from among us.”

MP Ali Al-Deqbasi criticized the government, saying that Kuwait is “suffering from corruption and delays in all aspects.”  Deqbasi also said that the rally was not a ploy for the majority block to protect its seats in Parliament, “but to demand the development of Kuwait and ensure its future.”

Speaking on the subject of the protest, columnist Ahmad Al-Dayeen believes that the current system is not a proper democracy.

“What we want is to reach an integrated democratic regime, because there is no democracy in the world without political parties and exchange of power.  We have an incomplete system, and what we want is an integrated democratic system.  The sheikhdom mentality does not want democracy and fights popular rights…” he said.

A source that wished to remain anonymous told Al Watan Daily that it believed the protests to be unconstitutional on grounds that those attending the rally did not “constitute a free opinion in democracy.”  The source also said that the propositions supported by the dissidents were in violation of Article 4 of the Constitution, which says that “Kuwait is a hereditary Amirate, the succession to which shall be in the descendants of the late Mubarak Al-Sabah.”  During the rally, Tabtabaie said that if the government were to act in accordance with Article 6, the people would still be committed to Article 4.

The Nahj Movement, credited for setting up the protest, is comprised of Islamists, independent opposition, and youth activists who want to transform Kuwait into a Constitutional Monarchy.

For further information, please see:

Al Watan Daily — Constitutionality of Rally Statements in Question — 12 September 2012

Arab Times — Nahaj, Majority Bloc Protest Election Law Appeal — 12 September 2012

Kuwait Times — Opposition Protesters vow to Pursue ‘Full’ Democracy — 12 September 2012

Al Jazeera — Kuwaitis Rally for Democratic Reforms — 11 September 2012